We’ve just survived another whirlwind week with the Missoula Children’s Theater. It’s always a highlight of the busy spring around here. Last Monday two college kids landed at the elementary school with a pickup truck full of props, backdrops, costumes, and scripts. Auditions were Monday after school, rehearsals start Tuesday, and by Saturday they all put on a full-fledged play complete with music and dance. Then the college kids packed up and drove off to the next venue. It’s quite a production to put together in only five days, and they do an impressive job.

This year’s production was Rumplestiltskin. Becca was Wizard #5, and I helped her with her lines:

Wizard #5: “And now, I will make the sun disappear!”

Townsfolk: “Oooooooh!”

Wizard #5: “Alakazam! See, it worked!”

Townsfolk: “It did?”

Wizard #5: “Sure. It will take another eight hours or so to disappear, but it worked!”

Katie was a townsperson who gets bamboozled by the invisble gnome Rumplestiltskin. She had a few lines, but since the protagonist is acting invisbly you can’t get it from just dialog. You had to be there.

For the second year in a row, Emma was the production’s pianist. She is quite gifted for a 13-year-old, and has (in public at least) a willing disposition that makes her every adult’s favorite. She merited at least three special recognitions at Saturday’s performance; the play’s directors lauding her as a better musician and easier to work with than many adults; and a couple of ladies handed her a $100 check! She’s not supposed to be paid for her work, but they wanted to.

It makes us proud.